MILL CREEK — Jackson took advantage of wild pitching early in the game to build a 3-0 lead and hung on for a 4-2 win against Lake Stevens in its first official baseball game of the year.
Only two Jackson players recorded an RBI in the game. Conor Plaisance singled in the Timberwolves’ first run and Aaron Avalos’ double drove in a run in the fifth. Jackson’s other two runs came on a combination of walks, passed balls and wild pitches.
“We scored without hitting,” said Jackson head coach Kirk Nicholson.
Pitching mistakes aside, Nicholson thinks the Timberwolves are going to be pretty good at scoring without power this season.
“We’re pretty athletic. I don’t think we have a bunch of guys that are going to hit a bunch of home runs, but we run pretty well,” said Nicholson. “I think we can put a lot of pressure on the other teams to make the right play.”
Jackson’s five stolen bases in this game are a start on proving that.
Their pitching wasn’t too bad either, and despite the hiccups early neither was the Vikings’.
Tyler Wingert struck out four over three innings for Jackson without giving up a hit and Alec Kisena struck out all three batters he faced to pick up the save.
Cory Bullens got in some trouble for Lake Stevens, but it might have been far worse if Skyler Swords hadn’t come in to a bases-loaded one-out jam in the third and struck out back-to-back batters to end the inning.
Both teams used a lot of pitching, a strategy Nicholson said he likes.
“I’ve played seven pitchers in two games (Jackson played four innings against Snohomish on Tuesday, but rain halted the game before it was official). I feel pretty good about that,” Nicholson said.
At Jackson H.S.
Lake Stevens0000020—241
Jackson1110100—441
Corey Bullens, Skyler Swords (3), Taylor Shea (5), Gavin O’Neill (6) and Cody Vigoren. Tyler Wingert, Jeremy Springs (4), KJ Neville (5), Kurt Miller (6), Alec Kisena (7) and Alex Kiel. WP—Wingert (1-0). LP—Bullens. 2B—Joe Palmieri (LS), Kisena (J), Aaron Avalos (J). Records—Lake Stevens 1-1 overall. Jackson 1-0.
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